The National Weather Service is predicting showers to continue until Friday when another storm is expected to bring rain and strong winds to the region, meteorologist Johnny Burg said.
“We’re not expecting anything like the rain we got this weekend,” Burg said.
The coming storm will likely bring less rain and cooler temperatures, he said.
Snow levels are predicted to drop to lower elevations, trapping precipitation in the mountains and allowing rivers to drain, he said.
Record-breaking rainfall caused floods throughout Western Washington Monday and Tuesday, including widespread flooding and evacuations along the Snohomish, Stillaguamish and Skykomish rivers.
Weather improved today. Cloud cover was punctuated by sun breaks and blue skies.
Storms earlier in the week brought successive warm and heavy rains in a “Pineapple Express” weather system. That’s when storms line up along a jet stream that flows from the Hawaiian Islands and takes aim directly at Washington.
Warm tropical air melts mountain snow and causes water to rush down stream, spilling over the banks.
The weather pattern hits the region one or two times a year.
“Another Pineapple Express is not expected anytime soon,” Burg said.
Long-range weather forecasters had called for a moderate el Nino this year. Experts disagree on whether that brings drier conditions in the Northwest, Burg said.
The seasonal outlook for December, January and February now calls for above average temperatures and “near normal” precipitation, Burg said.
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